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Friday, December 21, 2012

Author Interview: Lisa L. Regan

Well, I figure I woke up and found the world still here this morning, so it's going to be a good day. Christmas is nearly upon us (and from the looks of things, we may have snow on the ground for it for the first time in a couple of years), the Magpie is now home, and I'm pleased to be hosting my friend and newly-published author, Lisa L. Regan here today. Lisa's debut novel, Finding Claire Fletcher, was released to the world on December 6th, from Sapphire Star Publishing Company.

I'm not sure if I found Lisa's blog before she found mine,
but I remember liking her style right away. She was immediately relatable. After lots of commenting back and forth, Lisa very graciously offered to read the manuscript for
Parallel Lives. She's given me great advice on
PL and a few other things, and has been sympathetic and supportive when I get
grumbly or insecure. I confess I haven't read Finding Claire Fletcher in
its entirety yet. The Wife has it on her phone and she won't let me read it until she's done. She's enjoying it quite a bit so far, but life and Christmas and all that is slowing her down madly, and she won't let me have it until she's finished first. I'm going to have to start stealing it from her in the middle of the night. However, what I have read is compelling, and I've also had the pleasure of reading the first chapter or so of an upcoming Lisa Regan work. Good stuff, folks. Anyway, Lisa
graciously offered to answer a few questions for us, so here we go.

First, Lisa, you've been an officially published author now
for a couple of weeks. How does it feel?

It's weird, but in a really fabulous way. The first
few days are really crazy. There were so many messages via email and
social media--people sending congrats and kind words. It was
amazing. At one point, my phone actually just froze. It was really
incredible though. Then things settled down and now, in some
ways, it's like nothing has changed at all. I go to work, take care
of my family, the days are the same. But then I'll get a message from
someone via Facebook or email saying they just finished my book and it was
awesome. Then I'm like oh, right, my book is out there for anyone to
read, and I'm completely euphoric!

Okay, we've all seen the bio, now tell us something about
yourself we WON'T learn from reading your
'About Me' page.

One of my favorite things in the world is “tv show night”
with my husband.Depending on the time
of year, we’ll choose a TV show that we’re going to watch together and that day
of the week becomes a kind of at-home date night.We watched both seasons of Game of
Thrones.We just finished watching the
last season of Boardwalk Empire.It’s
just fun to cozy up with some snacks and be absorbed into a great story line
together.Then we talk about it, make
predictions, etc.If one of us can’t be
home the night a new episode is on, we tape it and save it until we can both
watch it together.No show-cheating
allowed!

That's a very nice way to spend some time together, and I
love that you make sure to talk about it, too. I love origins stories. Tell us
about the origins of Finding Claire Fletcher. How did it come about?

I’ve been obsessed with missing children ever since I was 11
and Jacob Wetterling went missing in Minnesota. [Jeffo's note: Wetterling went missing in 1989]That case really captured the attention of
the entire country.I never forgot
it.On the anniversaries of his
abduction, the media would put out age progression photos.I kept thinking, “I bet someone in this
country has run into him and didn’t even know it.”The idea of a random encounter with a missing
or abducted person was the premise for FCF.It just didn’t turn into a book until 2004
when I started writing FCF.

The idea for the premise was there for
years—at least a decade.In 2004, I was
trying to get back on the horse as they say and start a new novel.I had written an adult novel before that, but
it was terrible.So I was playing around
with different projects and premises at that time, trying to find something to
write.Then the first line of the book
popped into my head:“First time in a
bar?”It’s actually the first line of
chapter 2 now.I sat down in my writing
chair with a notebook and wrote the first 65 pages of the book in one
sitting.I knew there was a man and a
woman in a bar and that the woman had said that line.It just came out.Just like that.I didn’t even have character names.When I finished, I knew that this was the
story I need to write next.

It's funny how an idea--a good idea--can float around in your head for so long before it's 'ready' to be written, and funny how the tiniest thing can trigger it. Has the
story changed from your initial vision?

In some ways, it hasn’t changed at all, and in others, it’s
changed dramatically.The parts that are
almost exactly the same as the day I hand wrote them in my many notebooks are
the sections from Claire’s point of view.Very, very, very little changed in those sections—the ones told in her
voice—from the first draft to finished product.This has always been her story, and my initial vision of it and the
telling of it hasn’t changed at all from start to finish.What did change dramatically was the plot of
the second half of the book.Originally
the book went much farther into the future than it does now.Also my bad guy was far more maniacal in the second half of the book than he is
now.Finally, the pacing is a lot
different.I originally had Claire’s
story framed by Connor’s search, and now I have the chapters staggered. I think
it adds suspense.

Now, Plotter or Wingman?

These days I am much more of a plotter.Although I had the best time writing I’ve
ever had writing Finding Claire Fletcher, forging ahead with no plan at all
really crippled me in terms of seeking publication.It took a very long time to get the book to
where it is now.I think if I had
plotted more ahead of time, my journey would have been easier.So now I begin with a premise in mind,
character names, a loose idea of the plot and then I write a few thousand
words.Then I do a plot outline from
there and continue writing.I will
reference and change the plot outline as I move along, depending on what twists
the actual writing takes.But now I try
to start out by asking myself:“What am
I trying to accomplish in this book?”

We often hear about 'saggy middles' and writers who get
10, 20, 30,000 words into a book and then get lost and discouraged. Did you
ever hit a point during the writing of FCF
where you thought about throwing in the towel and giving up? What kept you
going?

Never in the actual writing of it.The book came out of me fast and
furious.I couldn’t get it out fast
enough.I was so sad when that first
draft was over.During the lengthy, prolonged,
painful revisions there were many times I wanted to throw in the towel.But Claire’s voice was too compelling to me.
She felt so real, and I was haunted by her voice, her story.I felt some weird sort of obligation to her
to see this thing through.

Describe your writing routine, if you have any. Are you a
morning writer, evening? Anytime?

I have none!I keep a
notebook in my purse and whenever I have time (waiting in line at the post
office or in a store, waiting at the doctor or dentist, waiting in the car
while my husband runs into a store) I will write.I try to always have whatever I’m working on
in the back of my mind so that when I do get ten minutes to pick up a pen, I
can get right into it.Then usually at
night when my daughter is asleep and my husband has fallen asleep watching TV,
I will pull out the old laptop and work on there.I just grab whatever free time I can get
wherever I have it and use that.Some of
my best work has been written in line at the post office.What's next for Lisa L. Regan? Do you see yourself
continuing in the same genre, or changing things up?

I will definitely continue in the crime
fiction/suspense/mystery/thriller genre.This is what I love.My new
novel, Aberration will be out 6/6/13
from Sapphire Star Publishing.It’s got
an FBI agent.Then after that will be a Philadelphia
detective.Then I’d like to bring Connor
and Claire back as minor characters or intrepid crime solvers in a book with a
mystery at its heart.

Wow, thanks so much for being here, and good luck with all of your projects. Merry Christmas, too!

Now, all, Lisa has a giveaway going on in celebration of Finding Claire Fletcher. Today is the last day to get in on it. You can win a $25 Amazon giftcard, a signed copy of Finding Claire Fletcher, or an e-book version of FCF. All you have to do is go here and leave a comment, but hurry! Signup ends today, drawing is on Christmas eve!

About Finding Claire Fletcher

Newly divorced and with his career in jeopardy, Detective
Connor Parks takes solace in the arms of a beautiful woman he meets at a bar.
The next morning, Claire Fletcher is gone, leaving nothing behind but an
address and a decade-old mystery. The address leads to the Fletcher family home
where Claire's siblings inform Connor that their fifteen-year-old sister was
abducted from a city street ten years ago and is presumed dead. During those
ten years, Claire endured the cruel torture and depravity of the man who
abducted her. Paralyzed by fear and too ashamed to return to her family, Claire
is resigned to her life as Lynn,
the identity her abductor forced upon her. Every time she attempts escape or
betrays him in the smallest way, someone dies. Even now, her clandestine run-in
with Connor Parks may have put his life at risk, as well as the lives of her
family. Connor is convinced that not only is Claire Fletcher alive, but that
she is also the woman he met at the bar. Driven to see her again, he begins his
own investigation, off the clock and without the police department's consent.
He is determined to find her and unravel the mystery of her abduction and odd
reemergence. But finding Claire Fletcher proves more dangerous than he
anticipates. In fact, it may be deadly.